NEW YORK (AP) — The 2026 midterm season begins in earnest on Tuesday with two of the nation’s most consequential Senate primaries playing out in Texas, a political behemoth that Democrats have been fighting to flip for decades. Is this the year? Republican leaders in Washington openly fret that a victory by conservative firebrand Ken Paxton over four-term incumbent Sen. John Cornyn would give Democrats a rare shot of winning the seat come November. The contest has already cost Republicans tens